It seems like Microsoft has more plans for AI, not just for Windows and its other tools and services. The tech giant is also extending its AI upgrades to its gaming department, particularly its console, the Xbox.
Xbox's AI Chatbot Support
Having a chatbot to answer important questions for users can reduce the need for employee-monitored customer support, which means simpler queries might be answered faster without the wait time or even failure to contact someone who can assist.
The chatbot is in its early stages, which is why the company doesn't have a name for it yet. All that's mentioned is that it will be part of Microsoft's efforts to integrate AI into the Xbox ecosystem, as reported by Kotaku, as it did with Windows.
Microsoft is already testing the prototype for an "Xbox Support Virtual Agent" that will assist with user questions such as console support or paid subscription issues. The bot will ask: "How can I help you today?" for starters.
It may even be able to process game refunds for those who have a difficult time contacting an agent to resolve issues that may arise during the process. Xbox General Manager Haiyan Zhang said that the chatbot would simplify the methods for tackling support inquiries.
"We are testing an Xbox Support Virtual Agent, an internal prototype of an animated character that can query Xbox Support topics with voice or text," Zhang stated. In a way, it's kind of like Clippy, the virtual assistant Microsoft had two decades ago.
Furthermore, Microsoft is planning to use AI for other projects as well, such as the development of games and content creation for them. The tech giant could even be looking into how AI can be of support during gameplay.
What This Could Mean for Gaming
Since AI support is being added to a gaming console, one could not help but wonder how AI would impact the creation and the market of video games. It was only a matter of time before generative AI could also be used for such purposes.
In fact, Mircosoft already has the tools to do so. With its collaboration with OpenAI, it can very well use the AI company's AI video generator Sora to create video game worlds, which is something that would speed up the process of developing games.
Sora is capable of generating realistic videos with elements that follow the laws of physics. In a demonstration, it was shown that the AI tool is capable of creating virtual worlds as well, and that's just in the early stages of testing, according to Gizmodo.
Some of the kinks have already been fixed. For instance, generated objects will now stay in the frame even if they leave the view of the camera. The tool managed to create a Minecraft world that's very similar to the actual game.
"Sora can simultaneously control the player in Minecraft with a basic policy while also rendering the world and its dynamics in high fidelity. These capabilities can be elicited zero-shot by prompting Sora with captions mentioning Minecraft," OpenAI's technical paper stated.
